Gillibrand Calls on Trump Reject Farm Bill Without MPP Refund

New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand says President Trump should reject any farm bill that does not include a refund for dairy farmers who participated in the Margin Protection Program.

The farm bill conference committee is reportedly nearing completion of the farm bill, leaving a final version to be passed by the House and Senate before heading to the president’s desk. Senator Gillibrand urged Trump in a letter this week to only support a final bill that includes her Dairy Premium Refund Act, that she says would “issue a refund to farmers who participated in the failed Dairy Margin Protection Program.”

Gillibrand says that Since 2014, thousands of New York dairy farmers paid millions of dollars to USDA for coverage, but when milk prices and feed prices fell at the same time, most farmers “lost money on every pound of milk they sold and never received a payment.”

Gillibrand serves on the Senate Agriculture Committee and is considered a hopeful candidate for President in 2020